Czechoslovakian Show Trial Prosecutor Dies at 96

Sentenced to 7 years in prison in 2001 for helping get an anti-Nazi fighter executed, but the sentence was canceled

A government institute says Karel Vas, a prosecutor who came to symbolize unlawful trials during the post-1948 communist takeover of Czechoslovakia, has died. He was 96.

The Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes on Monday announced Vas' death but gave no details.